Prevalence and Risk Factors of Sexual Victimization Among a Representative National Sample of Adolescents in Spain

Abstract

Sexual victimization among adolescents is a public health issue of significant concern worldwide. Against this backdrop, the present study aimed to examine the past year prevalence and factors associated with sexual victimization in Spanish adolescents. A representative sample of 4,024 youth, aged 14 to 17 years (M = 15.24; SD = 1.56), was recruited from 70 educational centers distributed across Spain. Participants completed an adaptation of the Spanish version of the Juvenile Victimization Questionnaire (Pereda et al., 2018). Several questions about sexual exploitation were added to the original instrument. A further two items were added from the Juvenile Online Victimization Questionnaire. In addition, various sociodemographic variables were collected for the study, including personal information about the participants. Alcohol consumption was measured using two items from the AUDIT-C, and pornography consumption was assessed using criteria adapted from the study by Averdijk et al. (2020). The prevalence of sexual violence among Spanish adolescents was 17.8%, with electronic sexual victimization being the most prevalent subtype. Risk factors associated with having been a victim of sexual violence in the past year included being an adolescent girl, being older, binge drinking, access to pornography, and belonging to a sexual minority. The comprehensive analysis underscores a pressing need for targeted interventions and preventive measures to address the identified risk factors, particularly the role of online environments, in the sexual victimization of adolescents.

Keywords

sexual violence sexual victimization prevalence risk factors adolescence Spain

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